During a presidential debate in 2011, Rick Perry made an unforced error when he tried to explain three government agencies he would eliminate. While gesturing to Ron Paul, the Texas Governor stumbled saying, “It’s three agencies of government, when I get there that are gone, commerce, education, and the . . . umm . . . what’s the third one there, let’s see.”
The Perrynator later explained, “It was Energy!”
Yeah, that’s the ticket!
Showing that the Presidential Transition Team has a sense of humor, multiple sources are telling the media that Rick Perry has been picked to head the Department of Energy.
While Perry may be a good pick for the DOE’s responsibility in regulating domestic energy production – specifically the regulation-loving Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), voters may not be comfortable handing Perry the keys to the nation’s nuclear weapons program.
The Department of Energy does what it implies, regulating energy, but is also responsible for nuclear weapons, nuclear reactors, energy conservation, radioactive waste and for some reason, the largest body of research in genomics.
Perry an Eagle Scout who graduated Texas A&M with a bachelors in Animal Science, went on to become a C-130 pilot in the Air Force.
After finishing his service in 1977, he went home to Texas to farm cotton with his father.
When the future governor entered politics in 1984, he was elected to the Texas statehouse . . . as a democrat, voting for a $5.7 BILLION tax increase.
By 1989, Perry switched parties and starting hanging out with Karl “turdblossom” Rove who went on to be his campaign manager.
As governor, despite signing Grover Norquist’s pledge to oppose tax increases, Perry proposed and approved several tax increases and debt measures.
Within a 10-year span under Perry’s leadership, Texas’ debt ballooned from $13 billion to $38 billion . . . yes, he nearly tripled the state’s debt.
So while Kellyanne Conway and the rest of Trump’s transition team may find it amusing to tap Perry for this top position, taxpayers may have to pay the price for a bad joke.
